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"Massive Shot In The Arm": Gavaskar On Gill Playing Duleep Trophy Post England Series

Jatin

Sunil Gavaskar hailed Shubman Gill [Source: @SunRisers/x.com]Sunil Gavaskar hailed Shubman Gill [Source: @SunRisers/x.com]

Fresh off a brilliant Test series against England, Shubman Gill could have easily put his feet up and taken a well-earned break. Instead, the 25-year-old Indian skipper has chosen to roll up his sleeves and lead North Zone in the upcoming Duleep Trophy starting August 28 in Bengaluru.

Gavaskar Praises BCCI’s Decision And Gill’s Commitment

And this move has earned him a big thumbs-up from none other than batting legend Sunil Gavaskar. The opener, who hammered 754 runs at a staggering average of 75.4 with four centuries in his first Test series as captain, will be at the helm of a 15-member squad that also includes quicks Anshul Kamboj, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana.

It will be Gill’s first time captaining North Zone in the prestigious zonal tournament, which returns to its traditional format this year.

In his column for Sportstar, Gavaskar didn’t hold back in applauding the BCCI for prioritising domestic cricket over an overseas white-ball tour this month and for Gill’s willingness to get stuck into the grind again so soon after a bruising Test series.

“It was good, therefore, to see that after the tour to Bangladesh was postponed to next year, the BCCI resisted the pressure to send a team for a white-ball series to Sri Lanka this month,” wrote Gavaskar. “By doing that, the BCCI have prioritised domestic cricket, as it means that now most, if not all, of the top players will be available to play in the Duleep Trophy tournament starting shortly. Shubman Gill captaining the North Zone team is a massive shot in the arm for this tournament.”

The batting great also underlined the example Shubman Gill is setting for others.

“By being available for the tournament, the Indian skipper is sending the right signal to the other members of the team. It would have been understandable if, after a gruelling tour where five Test matches were crammed in a little over six weeks, he had opted to rest,” he added.

Rest For Pacers, Grind For The Batters

Gavaskar also approved of the management’s call to give India’s fast bowlers a breather after the exhausting English summer.

“The fast bowlers not playing is good thinking, as it has been an unusually hot summer in England, thanks to global warming, and their energies must have been expended after the untiring spells they bowled throughout the series,” he wrote.

Why This Matters For Gill And The Duleep Trophy?

With the Asia Cup starting on September 9 and running alongside the Duleep Trophy, there is a chance that last-minute changes could hit the North Zone squad if Gill or others are picked for national duty. But for now, his presence is a huge boost for a tournament that has long been a proving ground for India’s domestic stars.

Gill has led in 10 First Class matches before, but this gig offers him a different challenge; managing a zonal team in a knockout competition where every innings counts. And with Gavaskar’s public seal of approval, the message is loud and clear that India’s captain isn’t just about the big stage, he is ready to grind it out at home too.